£6M urgent treatment centre coming to Southampton General
It's to take pressure off the A & E Department
A new £6million urgent treatment centre will be developed at Southampton General Hospital as part of efforts to tackle pressures on the emergency department.
The project will deliver a facility to treat patients for minor illnesses and injuries.
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHS) hope this will allow the emergency department to focus on patients who need emergency and life-saving treatment.
Southampton Test MP Satvir Kaur said the investment will help ease the current demand within the emergency department.
Ms Kaur said: “Southampton General Hospital is one of the best in the country, and we’re extremely lucky to have it and the incredible NHS professionals that work there.
“ However, we all know that the A&E department has been struggling.
“There have been more people through its doors, resulting in extremely long waits.
“The government has been looking to tackle this issue head-on, not only by investing more in community health, like addressing the root causes and being able to get a GP appointment earlier, but also by supporting hospitals like ours in Southampton with their plans to build a new urgent treatment centre.”
Urgent Treatment Centres
Urgent treatment centres provide urgent medical help for non-life threatening conditions.
They are open at least 12 hours a day, with care provided for walk-in patients and those who have booked an appointment through NHS 111.
The urgent treatment centre at Southampton General Hospital would be co-located with the emergency department.
While the plans remain in an early phase, it is likely the provision will be open from 8am to 10pm and will be staffed by a range of medical professionals from the existing emergency department, supported by GP colleagues from primary care partners in the city.
It is hoped that it will open in spring next year, serving patients in the west of the city.
A UHS spokesperson said: “The intention is that the proposed urgent treatment centre will provide a more efficient pathway for adult patients with minor injuries and minor illnesses, enabling them to receive the care they need rapidly, but still in an appropriate setting.
“In turn this should alleviate pressure on the emergency department where the sickest patients, requiring emergency and life-saving treatment, will continue to be cared for.”
The trust currently has urgent treatment centres at Royal South Hants Hospital, which is operated by Practice Plus Group, serving the east side of the city and at Lymington Hospital, operated by PHL Group, serving the New Forest.
Progress on the project at Southampton General Hospital comes at a time when the trust was below its planned target for the four-hour emergency performance metric in three of the first four months of the financial year.
By the end March 2026, the national aim is for 78 per cent of emergency patients to be seen, treated and either discharged or admitted within four hours of arrival.
The trust was below its plan for May, June and July, with the figure at 60 per cent for the latter – 7.7 per cent lower than the planned level.
This triggered UHS being placed in tier one escalation for their unscheduled and emergency care performance.
A trust board report said: “To date we are still awaiting confirmation as to what this means for UHS although the guidance states we will be in contact with the emergency care improvement support team (ECIST).”
The draft position for August suggested progress had been made, with the trust 2.5 per cent ahead of its plan at 69 per cent for four-hour performance.
Challenges impacting the hospital’s emergency department include a 23 per cent increase in attendances since 2019/20, a continued rise in patients with enhanced care needs and mental health attendances, and a consistent increase in the number of patients in hospitals beds that are ready to be discharged.
Ms Kaur said making the NHS “fit for purpose” was one of her and the government’s top priorities.
She said investing in local services and the hospital was an example of not just talking about change but delivering it.